Course for 2 CEUs: Wood Floor Finishes and Maintenance (Course #7662)

Antique Wood Floor Finishes and Maintenance

Getting the Wood Floor of Your Dreams

Andrew St. James, Showcase Hardwood Floors
Carol Goodwin, Goodwin Heart Pine Company

This course will teach you:

• Wood science & sources
• Terminology for specifiers
• Finish choices and expectations
• Installation techniques and artistry
• Sanding and finishing - how it all works
• Maintenance and repairs - beauty for a lifetime

A Good Choice for the Environment Green building material Good for your health Easy to clean

A Good Choice for the Environment

Wood floors are the best ‘green building’ material. Wood is our only renewable natural resource. It is actually good to cut trees, so long as you do so responsibly and keep planting. Young trees use more carbon dioxide just like young people need more calories. North America is one country that increased its tree cover over the past decade and is becoming known as a ‘carbon sink’ according to a Princeton study.

Don’t be surprised if someone you know has their doctor recommend a wood floor for health reasons. You don’t have to worry about dust or fumes in the fibers or mold in the grout and far fewer noxious chemicals are used in cleaning wood. And depending on the installation, wood can be more forgiving on the spine and joints.

Wood is by far the easiest floor to clean. With just a cloth covered swivel head mop and a spray bottle of wood floor cleaner you can remove spots from most finishes. The biggest challenge is to keep grit off the floor. This can be much less critical with some of the newer waterborne finishes. There are even some new finishes that let you treat your wood floor like linoleum with a top coat and top coat remover so you can make the finish look new again.

Wood Floor Choices Woods Almost unlimited Environmental choices Engineered development Expanding market Finishes Finish and equipment improvements Distresses, brushed, scraped, antiqued,...

Wood Floor Choices

Only a couple of decades ago wood floor choices were very limited. Consequently stains and fillers were used a great deal to give wood a different look. The result was that most wood floors with these fillers looked homogeneous from board to board. Today we have a veritable palette of wood choices, especially with all of the ‘maturing’ tropical plantations that were planted during the environmental activist period of the 1980s. There is more variety in natural coloration than ever before along with the advances in finishes of the past few decades. There are exciting surface options as well including: distressed, brushed and scraped finishes. You can use wood borders and medallions or even faux finishes to get the look you want.

Reclaimed wood floors, those not cut from standing trees, are becoming increasingly popular due to our interest in historic preservation and also to advances in green building design. These woods often offer superior qualities from wood that grew slowly and is often more dense than faster grown wood. Hardwood Floors Specifiers’ issue 2002 gives in-depth terminology to use when specifying Antique Heart Pine or longleaf pine (Pinus palustris). Contact the Reclaimed Wood Council for similar information on other reclaimed woods or logon to www.reclaimedwood.org beginning December 2003. Goodwin offers a continuing education course on ‘How to Specify Antique Woods’ either in person or on CD-rom.

In addition to the wood choices you can now choose between solid wood, engineered wood and laminated wood. Solid wood is still considered the ‘gold standard’ in wood flooring and is the best choice for the floor that you want to last for the long-term. For example, George Washington’s Mount Vernon floor of original-growth Heart Pine is over 250 years old and people still walk on those same floorboards every day.

Engineered wood floors have come on very quickly since their introduction into this country and were 1/3rd of the wood floor market over the past decade. Generally these floors are prefinished and can be glued down over concrete. They are usually short floors with the boards no more than 4’ to 5’ in length to prevent spaces between the ends of the boards. Engineered wood floors are constructed like plywood with multiple layers of wood that are glued together with the grain running in perpendicular directions. When glued up this way, the result is that the boards shrink and swell equally lengthwise as they do widthwise, thus creating more potential to develop spaces between the ends if the boards are long – thus they are generally short floors.

Engineered floor are usually prefinished and have a beveled edge on the sides and ends of the boards since they will not be sanded onsite. This accounts for minor differences in height when installed on a subfloor that may not be perfectly level.

Laminated floors such as Pergo have a wear-resistant non-wood surface and are usually made to look like wood in long rectangular shaped ‘planks’ typically about 47"x8".

Wood Science Hardwoods vs. Softwoods Species often Mixed - Red Oak, 6-7 major, -up to 17 species - Southern pine -4 - Pecan/Hickory - 4 - Tropicals substituted frequently names not scientific

What is Wood?

Wood is a porous material with millions of tiny open cells. Besides being porous, wood is hygroscopic: it absorbs and releases moisture in response to the level of moisture around it. A wood finish seals the porous surface making it easy to clean and slows the moisture exchange with the surroundings making wood more stable.

Wood is classified as either hardwood or softwood, however, this does not tell anything about which is harder and hardness is not related to durability. Hardness may be related to denting, however wear ability is mainly related to sanding. Neither do these classes tell us anything about strength. Southern yellow pine, a softwood, is the framing material of choice, not oak.

Worldwide hardwoods almost double the volume of softwoods and Tropical forests are almost exclusively hardwoods. Central and South America have only 2% of the world’s softwoods while North America has over 30%. Softwoods are more primitive and hardwoods are often the ‘succession’ forests. Such is the case of the hardwood thickets that took over once the longleaf pine ecosystem was virtually clear-cut. Longleaf was once the largest continuous forest on the North American continent and it was the source of all true ‘heart pine – the wood that built America’ and it was once as hard or harder than red oak. However, today ‘heart pine’ can be a confusing term.

Often what we call a wood specie is really a mix and thus can have considerable variability from one manufacturer to another or one lot to another. For example:

• Red Oak is made up of 6 or 7 dominant species and can contain up to 17 species.
• Southern yellow pine today is 4 species; slash, loblolly, shortleaf and maybe a tiny bit of longleaf
• Pecan/Hickory include up to 4 species. Pecan is called domesticated Hickory and Hickory has 3 species.
• Tropicals are substituted so frequently that their given names are often not found in either common or scientific records.
• Cork and Bamboo, while not wood, still offer natural floors from renewal sources.

Building design professionals have long known the importance of understanding terms and working with a trustworthy source to receive the grade of wood they want. The Wood Handbook, Agriculture Handbook 72, published by the Forest Products Society, is a great source for information. There are wood scientists available to help you at the Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, WI or some universities such as NC State and Penn State have excellent wood science departments.

Terminology For Specifiers

Building designers have to know all the building trades and the suppliers’ language, from lumber mill terms to the installation contractor’s language. The attached brief glossary is a starting place and includes a mixture of wood terms about grading, manufacture, installation and inspection.

The most important step in the specification process is to get a copy of the grading rules from the manufacturer for whatever specie or grade you want and get a guarantee of the grade. Note that most grading rules allow up to 5% material out of grade. This is not unusual. For example, the steel industry allows up to 6% out of grade and they are just mixing chemicals. Many of the wood grading rules can be difficult to understand. If the job requires historical accuracy you may need to write your own specifications of the grade. Always get a guarantee in writing.

Why Should You Study the Terminology?

Wood flooring professionals usually know one finish system very well; however, their system may not be the appropriate finish for every project. Besides, the EPA regulations regarding wood floor finishes have changed more rapidly in the past three years than in the 25 years prior, thus making it a challenge for even the most studious wood floor professional to keep abreast of developments.

This course is intended to give you the specification tools needed to ensure that the right person is contracted for the project and the most suitable finish is specified in addition to the selection of a wood specie and the floor pattern and design.

For more information there is a glossary attached as well as a list of references at the end of the attached Outline for a Continuing Education Course on Wood Floor Finishes and Maintenance.

Finish Choices And Expectations Early Finishes None Natural Oils Wax Shellac Varnish Earth Pigments

An Overview of Choices

Early wood floor finish options ranged from no finish, natural oils (linseed or tung), wax (beeswax or carnauba from plants), shellac from insects or later on varnish from the copal tree resin dissolved in linseed oil. Stains were all earth pigments or oxides. Shellac was used prior to the 1850s and was considered to add to the beauty of wood primarily due to the warm orange color that its impurities gave to the finish. Varnish came next then polyurethane, however, you cannot draw a line between varnishes and polyurethanes as they are all derived from resins. Early varnish was made from natural oils, then came man-made alkyd varnish, and finally polyurethanes that are synthetic resin varnishes with drying agents added.

Many people want the look of shellac and wax, however, this can add significantly to the labor and supplies costs of maintenance. Finishing a wood florr is not like finishing a piece of fine furniture, yet that is what our clients often ask for. You can, however, get the look of shellac and wax and still have a very hard wood floor finish with some of the tips below.

Finishes evolved a bit earlier in Europe due to tighter environmental rules. For example, Europeans stopped using lead in paint in the early 1900s, whereas Americans allowed lead in finishes until 1978. Test for lead before you work with an old wood floor finish. Similarly, check old floor tiles installed before the mid-1980s for asbestos.

Waterborne finishes offer the toughest finish and at the same time are the least harmful to the contractors and to the building occupants. They dry much faster and some are harder in 30 minutes than oil-modified polyurethanes get in 60 days.

If you want the warm color that ambering finishes give, but don’t want to stain, you can use a coat of oil under a water-based finish so long as the manufacturer Okays it. On antique heart pine try a shellac wash (dewaxed dark 3 pound cut shellac thinned). It dries in a few hours and gives the perfect color right away. Try this under a water-based finish with the finish manufacturer’s approval to get close to the look of shellac and wax. Normally you do not want to mix finish systems. Check with the manufacturer. Some waterborne finishes even have some ambering.

Sheen evenness can be a problem with some finishes. This is usually from not properly mixing the finish components in a multi-part system. The easiest waterborne two-part finish has only one chemical in the hardener to avoid multiple mixing steps.

There can be a build up of flatteners when you use multiple coats of satin finish. Avoid this by using gloss for the first coat or two, then use satin for the final coat. Or you may be able to get some ‘build up’ from the sealer and save some money by reducing the number of coats needed. A pigment type stain avoids the need for a sealer and the sealer or stain can fill the pores of a porous wood such as oak and give a smoother finish.

Prefinished engineered floors are almost always eased on the edges, but may not be eased on the ends. If engineered well they remain flat even though finished on one side and not the other. Prefinished solid floors can create some more risk for cupping as moisture can more easily get through any spaces between boards and onto the bottom of the unsealed board more so than a well installed site finished floor.

The Finish Line

Everybody thinks that oil is a better finish because that is what our ancestors used. The truth is that they used what they had. Oil and wax provide very little protection and offer no more sheen after three or four coats unless you buff each coat in requiring much more effort. Rubbing the finish actually decreases the penetration as it seals off the surface faster from drying faster. So the trick is to get a waxed look but have more protection and less maintenance involved.

The broad classifications of finishes listed here vary widely in quality and performance within each class. Talk with someone who has used the finish before trying something new or test it first. Try to find an application that has been down for at least six months to see if the finish still looks good. The following are generalizations to help you understand the broad groupings of finish.

Wood Finishes Wax- soft, continuous buffing Oils - cure slowly, limited durability Shellac Laquer Traditional Varnish More
Finish science Chain length Cross linking Solids Content Measuring performance Material loss (Taber) Hardness (Koenig) Stain (ASTM)

Oil finishes are oils, varnishes (including polyurethanes) or a blend. Straight oil cures slowly and it cures soft. Tung oil offers some more water resistance than linseed oil after a few coats; however, it can turn white if left to cure in any thickness. It does yellow less than linseed oil. Wax is like oil but is even less protective than linseed oil. Wax provides no significant barrier against water or solvents; however, it is a way to maintain oil finishes with buffing.

Polyurethane, Oil Slow curing Sensitive High build Low cost

Film finishes are shellac, lacquer, varnish, water base or conversion and all of them protect better than oil finishes because they are thicker on the surface. They also offer more possibilities for surface decorations than oil finishes.

• Shellac originates from the resin of the lac bug. Although it is great for some furniture as it lasts a long time, it has very little resistance to water and abrasion, so is not good for wood floors. Wax does not add protection.
• Lacquer is somewhat more resistant to water; however, it cures so quickly that it has to be sprayed on making it inappropriate for floors. In addition it is highly flammable and bad for your health.
• Varnish came along in the 1930s and immediately became the most popular because of its improved scratch-resistance. It cured too slowly to be useful, however, and so metallic dryers were added, originally lead.
  
  Varnishes are either long-oil (with more oil) intended for outdoor use where wood moves more but is softer, or short- or medium-oil for indoor use where a harder finish is needed. Pure varnish cures too slowly to be useful for floors today and is not very UV resistant.
  
  The type of resin in the varnish determines its characteristics.
  • Alkyd varnishes are standard interior all-purpose finishes
  • Phenolic varnishes are predominantly for exterior use and usually are made with tung oil
  • Urethane varnishes are generically called polyurethane and of all the varnishes have the best resistance to heat, solvents and scratches. Oil-modified polyurethane varnish is used on over 80% of wood floors finished onsite today.
  • Oil / varnish blends are oils with some varnish in it. Danish oil and a whole host of other finishes sold as oil finishes are almost impossible to ascribe general protective qualities to, as the labels don’t disclose the quantities.

Polyurethane, Waterborne One and two component Quick cure & hard Low odor & flammability Excellent adhesion Elastic Clear to ambering Good chemical resistance Somewhat higher cost

• Water-base finishes started as solvent-based finishes and are dispersed in water. They now include more diverse formulations. They are very scratch resistant; however, they cost more to make. Only with the growing concern over air pollution have they come into demand. They do save money, however, in that they dry much faster and can therefore shorten the time required to finish onsite. Also, they generally dry so fast that dust does not settle into the finish requiring repair coats as can happen with oil-modified polyurethane. They are generally less sensitive to temperature than oil-modified urethane that can dry very slowly if the temperature is too low. They generally have better adhesion qualities and are more elastic than oil-modified urethanes and better chemical resistance.
• Conversion finishes although hard give off extremely irritating formaldehyde emissions while curing.

Less Frequently Used Waterborne acrylic Acrylic impregnation Conversion Varnish Epoxy, epoxy esters Moisture cure UV cured Environmental Finishes

• Some less frequently used wood floor finishes include acrylic impregnation where the finish is impregnated into the wood through pressure, UV cured and aluminum oxide.

Durability – the Quality Most Desired

The most scratch resistant finishes are conversion and water-based finishes. Crosslinking, also called polymerization, is the linking together of resin molecules in a tight network resulting in a chemical reaction that makes it tough. Water-based finishes cure by coalescing, a process by which tiny crosslinked droplets come together, or coalesce, as the water evaporates.

The reason this is important is that even the tougher water-based finishes can be damaged by repeated application of water as the water can get into the junctures where the droplets come together over time. Oil-based finishes that crosslink but do not coalesce break down even more easily with repeated application of water. Avoid wet mopping your wood floor. Instead see the maintenance section for how easy it is to use the mop and spray cleaners that match your finish.

Properties and Reasons

• Protection
• Abrasion & moisture resistance
• Ease of care - fills pores

Change natural appearance

• Shade: patina, gloss level, chatoyance
• Change or stabilize color
• Age, blend, simulate another wood

Important Finish Properties Adhesion, elasticity, stability Abrasion, slip, spill, and humidity resistance UV absorption Penetrate and strengthen Compatability Maintenace characteristics
Coloration Stains and dyes - Seperate - Together - In the finish Other colorations - Bleach - Ammonia - Lye and liming - Nitric acid - Potassium dichromate - Antiquing systems

Finish Properties and Reasons

Besides protection from abrasion and moisture, finishes can change the natural appearance of wood through the gloss level, adding a patina and some even bring out or add ‘chatoyance’ or a dimensional aspect to wood. They can change the color or stabilize the color. They can make a wood look old or make it simulate a different wood. In addition there are a host of colorations that can be used first or added to the finish to change the wood’s appearance.

Prefinished UV cured Aluminum oxide Oil Urethane Acrylic impregnated
Prefinished Considerations Recoat and repair Schedule near end of construction Less time and dust than job site finish

Prefinished wood floors are UV cured, aluminum oxide, oil, urethane or acrylic impregnated. Often these finishes appear less natural and are more difficult to repair when scratched so their installation needs to be scheduled near the end of construction, although they involve less time and dust than site finished floors.

Installation Techniques And Artistry

Oak floors, the most commonly available wood floor material, are generally short and narrow boards. Installers can be surprised at how much more strength and skill it takes to properly install a wide plank floor and prevent spaces. Medallions, borders, end grain floors, bent wood, parquet, radius patterns or even a relatively simple diagonal installation can add a great deal of beauty to a wood floor; however, they can add to the installation complexity as well.

Building industry changes are also affecting wood floors. Substrates are getting less expensive and often may not hold the nails in a wood floor tightly enough to prevent wood floor movement and the resulting spaces between boards. Some say that OSB is not dense enough to hold down a solid wood floor. Refer to www.umass.edu/bmatwt/publications/articles/osb_vs_plywood.html for an in-depth discussion. Adhesives are changing and when used they eliminate the needed vapor barrier between the subfloor and the wood floor. Engineered wood floors are evolving rapidly. Vapor barrier code requirements are changing for concrete slabs. These events and more have also increased the number of wood floor inspection bodies to deal with problems that result from shortcuts or lack of knowledge.

	Restoration and Refinish Hazards Dust and Fumes Time for Work Curing
	Planning Match finish to traffic, maintenance budget Decor - blend/contrast Wood specie considerations Installation and constrcution deadlines Effects on people

The Wood Floor Installer’s Responsibility

Wood floor installers have a great deal of variation in skill level just like the complexity varies widely in the type and complexity of design of wood floors. Connecting the building contractor with the flooring contractor who can achieve what is needed can be critical. The good news is that there are many more opportunities for training for wood floor professionals than were available just a couple of years ago, a few of which are listed at the end of the handout outline. Call your wood floor manufacturer or the National Wood Flooring Association or the Wood Floor Guild for installers in your area.

An installer has at least a four part job: making sure the site conditions are correct, racking the floor (layout followed by installation), sanding and screening, and correcting surface imperfections (the finish). Proper site conditions influence the success of the installation much more than any other factor. Racking, or laying out the wood in place before installation, can also make a tremendous difference in appearance and client satisfaction.

The relative humidity in the dwelling should be more or less what it will be the majority of the time throughout the life of the structure well before the wood floor arrives so that the subfloor and walls are ‘dry’. Checking the moisture content at the site and of the wood floor will tell you when it is time to bring the wood onsite. Consider the season you are installing and the type of heat the rest of the year. For example, if it is summer when there is more moisture and the subfloor is not as dry as you might ultimately want, consider only bringing onsite the quantity of floor that can be installed in one day to prevent the wood floor from taking on moisture before installation.

Subfloor Types

In general, ‘floating’ subfloors are used over concrete slabs and ‘nail down’ subfloors over wood. The term ‘floating’ means that a plywood subfloor is not fixed to the slab whereas a ‘nail down’ subfloor is often plywood nailed or screwed to the wood subfloor. Or you can shoot the subfloor into a concrete slab if you are highly concerned about extreme movement of the plywood should very large amounts of water be introduced onto the floor. However, penetration of the concrete introduces another opportunity for moisture to intrude onto the wood floor.

Floating Subfloor Basics

For solid wood floors there are two floating systems primarily used today. One uses a single layer of ¾” CDX plywood cut into 16” strips and further cut into 2’, 4’, 6’ and 8’ sections, then racked out like you layout a wood floor only going in the opposite direction with at least 1/8” spaces and ¾” spaces at all vertical obstructions. Many flooring professionals prefer to use two layers of ½” plywood with the second layer perpendicular or on diagonal to the first layer. Preferably screw (or you can nail) the first layer to the second without fastening the first layer to the concrete. Note that if installing solid wood parquet you will not cut the sheets and cannot use a solid board subfloor instead of the plywood.

Nail Down Subfloor Basics

Preferred is ¾” CDX plywood 4’x8’ sheets with joists no more than 19” on center or a minimum of 5/8” plywood with joists no more than 16” on center. Leave minimum 1/8” spaces and ¾” minimum gaps at all vertical obstructions. If you choose to use the nail down method over a concrete slab shoot the first layer into the concrete every 6” to 12” along the edges using a minimum of 32 shots per sheet.

Subfloor Summary

Always use an underlayment over concrete as a moisture barrier. Use at least 6 mil polyethylene overlapped 4” to 6” and run up under the baseboard a few inches. If you are concerned over possible moisture intrusion from the slab you may want to trowel on cold-cut mastic under the polyethylene and walk off any bubbles. Even more conservative is to use two coats of a product such as Top Coat 7055 from Inter-Stix at 706-625-0025 adding approximately $.30 per square foot.

Each site and building location is different and it is not possible to cover all of the situations in this text. Consult the references listed at the end of the glossary here if you have specific questions, particularly the National Wood Floor Association for subfloor specifics.

	Preparation Methods Sanding - Standard - Buff only "Hand scrape" Stain - Color - Grain contrast - Uniformity Bleach
	Build - finish shows or not Gloss level Quality Factors Temperature and humidity Dust control and ventilation Drying time - no traffic Back sealing

Sanding And Finishing – How It All Works

Sanding – a critical step in the finish

Sanding can be done within a few days after installation. You want to give the floor a little time to move however it is going to before sanding. This is true whether the floor is solid or engineered. What you don’t want to do is sand the floor and leave it for a long time during construction. It is easy to contaminate the wood with some substance that may prevent finish adhesion without the contractor knowing it.

Getting the first cut, or sanding, flat makes the rest of the job a lot easier and is often best done a few degrees on the diagonal. Fundamentally, this keeps the sander from hopping when it catches on the ends of any boards that are not perfectly flat; i.e., may have moved slightly after installation. Medallions or wood floors with grain that goes in multiple directions requires sanding from three different angles. Generally, the intermediate sandings are to get the sanding scratches smaller and smaller and the final sanding is often called ‘screening’ with an orbital sander as it removes the belt sander grit marks that look like brush marks if not screened.

Sanding equipment has changed quite a bit in the last ten years as well. Some older models use flat paper that is inserted into a slot on the round drum. This can leave a slight washboard effect on the floor if not properly adjusted. Dust should be removed between each sanding. Screening if done pretty aggressively can remove this, however, you usually want to ‘screen’ a floor lightly. Using a pad to screen versus a sanding disc can serve to fill any pores or polish out any slight defects. Fillers have become more elastic, though they require the finest sawdust from the screening process.

To avoid a different color in the stain or a different pattern around the perimeter of the room it is important to use the same sanding techniques up against the wall, whether by hand or using a small sander, even though you cannot get the large sander to the wall.

Problems and Repairs Deglossing and wear Scratches and treatment Side bnding; fastening, finish Digs, bruises, scratches Buffing, burnishing
Fill methods Slivers, cracks Board replacement Resanding -localized/fyll Partial / full recoat

Filling and patching

To patch splits or gaps in joints cut slivers and insert the correct thickness into the opening. It can be helpful to taper the sliver so it will slide in and fill the gap. After the glue has dried trim the insert flush. You may be surprised at how a skilled floor professional can make a disaster floor look brand new again.

Filler, or wood putty, entails finding one that will be the same color as the wood once it is finished. Most commercially available putty is filler and binder with colorant and does not contain wood. The trick is to judge the color while the putty is still damp. That way it is close to what you will get when the finish is applied. The best way to keep the color of the filler the same as the wood is to make your own using the finest sawdust of the wood you are installing.

Maintenance Goals - Appearance - Life of the floor - Safe to walk on - Cleanliness
Maintenance Procedures & Products Manufacturer recommendations Interim polish- Loba, other Grit - no soap residue Avoid wet mopping Buffing wax, impregnated Avoid residues
Maintenance Aids Keep pet nails trimmed Walk off mats, rugs at entry areas Furniture glides, mats

Maintenance And Repairs – Beauty For A Lifetime

To Keep the Appearance

Start by recording the type and manufacturer of the finish and their recommended maintenance at the time the floor is installed and finished. Avoid large amounts or repeated use of water on the floor to prevent damaging the wood and the finish. Use the blue ‘squeaky’ cleaners on Turkish towels or ‘sh-mops’ or a cleaner made specifically for your finish. Remember to keep a supply of clean terry cloth mop covers on hand so you are not smearing dirt back onto the floor when you use the mop. It is often best to spray the cleaner directly onto the mop and to use only as much cleaner as needed to get up spots.

Avoid polishes and cleaners other than those made for your finish. Murphy’s Oil Soap contains no oil and lemon oil and other oil polishes have no effect on finishes other than to leave a film and attract dust. These type of products can and usually will render the finish so that it cannot be recoated and requires sanding the floor back down to bare wood to refinish. Recoating to repair a finish once it is damaged saves tremendous time and money so don’t risk putting a film on the finish that will prevent this.

Strong light will eventually damage a finish much like paint dulls on a car that is left in the sun, although indoors this will usually take many years to show. Oxidation is slow, however, it also causes most finishes to darken or crack even without light. Extreme heat accelerates oxidation. Physical abuse is something that you can do things to prevent. Use dirt trapping mats at entryways and keep grit free pads on the legs of furniture. Pads, or furniture glides, come in different sizes and colors and either stick on, tap on or some even screw on to allow you to use them to level tables.

To work with a large retirement village in Florida we found a finish new to this country that has a top coat and conditioner so the local maintenance crew can treat the wood floor as though it were linoleum. This finish also has a cleaner that is diluted with water yet dries quickly from the cleaner additives, a process that works with the local maintenance crew’s existing cleaning equipment and is familiar to them. Wear patterns can be addressed in commercial applications such as this without shutting down the restaurant by transferring one half of the tables to the other side of the restaurant to avoid expensive moving operations.

Finally, when you get a disaster floor, don’t despair. There are all sorts of techniques for making them look like new again with the help of a wood floor expert. You can fill spaces or panelization from insufficient fastening with flexible new fillers or you can glue wood slivers into larger spaces to make the floor look brand new again. Research the attached references or feel free to call for further information.

Programs for Maintenance In-house training Contracted - qualifications Combination and when you need this

Resources

• National Wood Flooring Association
  • Sanding and Finishing
  • Problems, Causes, and Cures
  • Web site and technical support
• National Oak Floor Manufacturers Assoc.
• Wood Floor Guild
• Wood flooring consultants
• Coating associations

References

• Hand Applied Finishes by Jeff Jewitt
• Great Wood Finishes by Jeff Jewitt
• Complete Wood Finishing by Ian Hosker
• Adventures in Wood Finishing by George Frank
• Understanding Wood Finishes by Bob Flexner

Further References

• National Wood Flooring Association, 800-422-4556, education@nwfa.org
  Sanding and Finishing
  Problems, Causes and Cures
  Web site and technical support
• National Oak Floor Manufacturers Association,
• Wood Floor Guild, 850-899-7728, andrewsj@isp01.net
• Reclaimed Wood Council, 352-745-2822, carol@heartpine.com
• Manufacturers
• Wood flooring consultants
• Coating associations

Quiz

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